User blog:Leolab/Siege Breakers Season, Battle 3: Guts (Berserk) vs Nightmare (Soul Calibur 3)
Nightmare: The soul-devouring personification of Soul Edge Versus Guts: The Black Swordsman and Demon slayer extraordinaire Weapons Guts Note - this is Guts during the Conviction arc, after getting his weapons upgraded by Godo and before he reaches Albion |-| Dragonslayer = The Dragonslayer is a gigantic sword. Estimates of the sword's length vary, but a common figure is between 7' and 7'4". It was created by Godo, a blacksmith whose work is of legendary quality. Due to being used against Apostles and the like, it now exists both in the Astral world and the Physical one. All that means is that the sword can harm things that originate in the astral plane |-| Repeating Crossbow = Guts has a repeating crossbow that can be strapped onto his prosthetic limb. It's got nothing particularly fancy or special about it, save for the fact that it was the only one in the setting for quite a while. Now that Rickert's making crossbow Gatling guns, though, its only real claim to fame is that Guts is damn good with it. |-| Cannon Arm = Remember that prosthetic hand I mentioned in the last tab? well, aside from being solid metal (and having a magnet to allow Guts to use a sword), the hand can swivel down at the wrist to reveal a cannon. The cannon is miniaturized, but it still packs quite a punch. Guts has even showcased his sword skills by using the recoil from the cannon to add extra power to his strikes. |-| Miniature Bombs = Guts also carries a pouch of miniature bombs. Also created by Rickert, these are exactly what they sound like. Guts can ignite the fuse using his prosthetic arm, and then throw it. After three seconds, it will explode. The miniature bombs have been shown to be powerful enough to cut into solid rock. Nightmare |-| Soul Edge = Nightmare's sword is the cursed Soul Edge, shown here in its SCIII incarnation. And yes, this is the SoulCalibur III incarnation of Nightmare. The title card should have made that clear. Anyway, Soul Edge is a cursed demonic sword that eats souls. Nightmare, as of SCIII, is the soul of the sword itself possessing an armored construct. It has shapeshifted into a greatsword, which fits the fighting style Nightmare has created based on the memories of possessing Siegfried. As for why this is Soul Edge and not Soul Edge (Phantom), Nightmare is only able to become Night Terror with Soul Edge itself. He does canonically reacquire Soul Edge in the game itself, and so is represented here as such. |-| Night Terror Transformation = Nightmare has the ability to transform into Night Terror. Night Terror is a beast of massive power, and is able to use variations of Nightmare's moves along with some of his own special abilities. As befitting the game's bonus boss, his moves are cheap and powerful. Many of his moves have a long charge-up time, but he is usually invincible during the charge. One of his signature moves is his eye beam. Exactly what it sounds like, he shoots a Devil Jin-eqsue beam from his eyes/horn. It's rather linear, but it comes out fast and is wide, so it's difficult to avoid. It takes off a good 60% of the lifebar in-game, making it one of the strongest - if not the strongest - moves in the Soul series to date. Voting *Votes with at least five complete and relevant sentences count as a full vote. *Votes with one sentence do not count. *All other votes count as a half vote. **Stating how much you like a series or simply stating that the character is badass is not a relevant sentence. *Any well-reasoned counter-arguments that aren't subjected to a well-reasoned rebuttal can lower a vote by half a point. Battle Prologue Guts, the Black Swordsman, walked past a large cathedral in a desolate area. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, and puts two fingers up to the Brand of Sacrifice carved into his flesh. He looks at them, seeing blood. “Heh,” a small laugh escaped from his lips. He enters the cathedral, which is devoid of life. “Why’re ya goin’ in here?” A voice asks from his pouch. Puck, an elf travelling with him, flies out of the bag and lands on Guts’ shoulder. He looks around in confusion, not seeing anything worth noticing. “There’s an Apostle in here,” Guts replies, “One powerful enough that I could feel it from outside.” He continues walking, until he comes to a round antechamber. At the sound of a clanking above him, Guts leaps into a sideways roll, dodging the falling cage that would have slowed him down. Puck was not as fast, however, and remained stuck inside the cage. “Heeeey, Guts, a little help, here?” “I’ll come back for you,” Guts says, and walks off to find his foe, drawn by the sound of swords clashing to the inner sanctum of the cathedral. The sounds of combat stop as he enters, seeing a man in azure armor with a massive sword facing an altar, while a man in plate armor lies fallen behind him. The Azure Knight turns to face him, flexing his three-clawed right hand. “You,” he growls, “will be my first sacrifice.” Battle Part 1: Azure Nightmare In another tab, if you will. Nightmare whips Soul Edge towards Guts’ neck, charging in to finish the battle in one blow. Guts, however, draws the Dragonslayer in one smooth motion. The two swords that could barely be called swords clash, and Nightmare’s momentum brings him careening past his foe. Guts pivots as the Azure Knight passes, swinging Dragonslayer as he does so in a bid to decapitate Nightmare. Nightmare turns as well, catching Dragonslayer with his claw and brings Soul Edge arcing towards Guts’ head. Guts ducks under the blow, letting go of the Dragonslayer with his right hand and using it to grab one of the miniature bombs in his pouch. As Nightmare overextends with his strike, Guts strikes the fuse on his prosthetic left arm and throws the bomb into the mouth on Nightmare’s stomach, while bringing his right foot up into a kick to launch himself backwards off of Nightmare’s armor. The bomb explodes, and Nightmare staggers. Guts charges in with a stab, aimed at the same place. Nightmare recovers just enough to sidestep it and swing his sword like a bat, catching Guts with the flat of the blade. Guts goes flying into a pillar, hitting his back and falling to the ground. Nightmare walks towards him. “Now, give me… GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!” he yells, reaching out with his claw to absorb yet another defeated soul. “Sorry,” Guts says, looking up, a small piece of string between his teeth and his prosthetic arm pointing at his foe, “But you can’t have your sacrifice just yet.” He pulls with his mouth, and Nightmare growls in surprise as a cannonball tears through his chest armor. Guts exploits the recoil to spin in a circle, building momentum for a massive strike with Dragonslayer. It shears through Nightmare diagonally, from the left shoulder to the right hip. Guts finishes the job by decapitating Nightmare and driving Dragonslayer through Soul Edge’s single eye. As he turns to walk away, however, the pain in his brand spikes, sending out a new gush of blood. He turns to see a rift opening behind him, and he gets sucked in. (End music, if it hasn’t already) Battle Part 2: Astral Chaos Guts finds himself in the center of a stone platform, seemingly floating in the void. He looks around him, noting similar floating stones ringing the arena, as well as a single eye-like orb in the far distance. He hears a threatening growl, and instinctively brings up his sword in a defensive stance. This saves his life, as a beam shoots forth from his foe and slams into his defense, pushing him backwards about halfway to the edge of the platform. He looks at the being that fired it, which somewhat resembled his foe before. Where the armor was azure, however, it had been colored a dark red, with what appeared to be fire-filled cracks. It had grown enormously in size, even sprouting wings, and its sword had changed, as well. “So,” he says, “That’s your true form.” Night Terror roars unintelligibly and lands opposite him, taking a fighting stance. Battle Part 3: Pavor Nocturnus Would you kindly play in another tab Guts brings his prosthetic hand up, crossbow attached to the top. He fires rapidly, filling the air with bolts. While his aim is accurate, the bolts simply clatter off of Night Terror’s armor. He breaks off this form of attack and meets Night Terror’s “sword” with his own. Night Terror swings his malformed lump of flesh and teeth with speed that belies his mass, flowing between what appears to be two different styles of combat with ease.* Guts meets his every move with his own sword-shaped slab of iron, reacting with similar speed. The two combatants clash, neither giving ground. Guts swings in a low sweep, aiming to hamstring his foe. Night Terror flaps his wings and jumps above the blow. Guts reverses the strike, aimed at the now-hovering Night Terror’s torso. Night Terror quickly drops to the ground and ducks, letting the strike pass harmlessly through the fire that comprises his wings. He dashes forward, slicing diagonally at Guts. The strike connects, and Guts is driven back almost to the edge of the platform. If it weren’t for my armor I’d be dead, he thinks as he regains his footing, and casts a glance behind him. He gets an idea, and turns back to face Night Terror, who lets out another growl and charges at him, bringing his weapon up for an overhand chop. Guts sidesteps the blow and stabs forward with the Dragonslayer, impaling Night Terror. He lifts his sword up, taking his foe with it, and pivots while swinging it down forcefully. Night Terror is thrown off, slamming into one of the rocks floating around the battlefield. Temporarily stunned, he falls. Guts starts reloading his hand cannon, keeping watch in case anything else comes. As he drops in the cannonball, he hears wings flapping. He turns to face the sound, seeing Night Terror flying back onto the field. “Tough bastard, aren’t ya?” he says, grabbing his sword. Night Terror growls and charges back in, swinging with frenzied strength. Guts dodges and counters, only to be parried himself. Night Terror goes in for an overhead stab, which Guts dodges and brings his sword around for another slash. Night Terror then unleashes the power of the souls he’s absorbed in an explosion, staggering the Black Swordsman. While his foe is vulnerable, Night Terror takes to the air once again, shooting his signature eye beam at Guts, who is hit head on. Heavily injured, he is in no shape to react when Night Terror swoops down and impales him with his horn, flying back up to shoot his eye beam point-blank, obliterating his foe. *Night Terror uses a blend of Siegfried’s and Nightmare’s styles; they’re completely different from each other, but the computer cheats and makes it work. Category:Blog posts